Jonathan Law coach Melanie Blude guided her Lady Lawmenfrom the No. 13 seed to the Class L semifinals a year ago.

“We are definitely going to feed off of that,” Blude said. “Coming out of the tough SCC (Southern Connecticut Conference) gets you ready that’s for sure.”

Missing from that team that went 12-8 in the regular season, before it lost to No. 1 seed and eventual champion Masuk of Monroe, are graduated captains Kacy O'Connor (catcher) and Skyler Bender (first base).

“Brie is looking great, hitting her spots and working on some junk pitches,” Blude said of Buccitti, now a sophomore. “With a year of development, she throws a little harder. In our scrimmages in cold weather, she’s still been able to get spin on the ball and get lazy fly-ball outs. I can’t wait to see the spin when it gets warmer.”

With the loss of O’Connor, Blude had to make some changes.

“Gina is moving from third base to catcher,” she said. “Gina knows the team needs her there. It’s tough on a senior. Gina has an incredible arm, and the way she fields, I’m confident that not too many pitches are going to get past her. She’s growing into the position.”

There is another factor.

“We encourage our catcher to call the pitches and Gina has a great softball IQ,” Blude said. “We don’t want two robots out there waiting for us to decide. Gina and Brie work out how to best approach each batter. That is a good thing for Gina, because she now understands how a team may pitch to her.”

Maddie David, a sophomore, will place first base and is also available to pitch.

Law is strong up the middle with Jolley at shortstop and Maddie Lula at second base.

“Against Brie, more batters hit the ball up the middle then hit rockets to the corners,” Blude said. “I’m looking forward to seeing how many double plays that Cali and Maddie can turn.

“We have two freshmen competing at third base with Grace Kantor and Courtney Hansen. Both are naturals at second. We want to see who develops at third the quickest. The other will fight for DH with Sarah Paulus.”

Law plans to get the most out of its outfield.

“We are looking to add length to our batting order, so hitting is a priority,” Blude said. “Ally Stein, Erica Boehm, Liz Hayden and Emily Morey (DH last year) are looking to be full-time players.”

Law boasts a roster of 36 players, including 17 freshmen.

“This group has a positive attitude,” Blude said. “We have the same personalities (from last year) and it is a fun group to be around. “We believe that is a huge component. They play for each other and the team — not for themselves. You have so much more success playing as a family.”

Law opens its season at Danbury High on Saturday at 1 p.m.

“We’ve never seen them before,” Blude said. “They are from a strong conference (FCIAC). We’ll go out and play hard and then get ready for Foran.”

The Lions are scheduled to visit Law on Wednesday, April 3, at 3:45 p.m.